Serious question:
Are there any stories of local police departments using this equipment successfully to save lives in situations where other more traditional gear would not have worked?
“This” equipment, meaning the current MRAPs? Or military surplus vehicles in general?
Following Hurricane Gloria in 1985 my town’s two WWII era Deuce and a halfs and the 3/4 ton Dodge were used to haul volunteer clearing crews with chainsaws to reopen roads, evacuate elderly to shelters until the power came back on and haul water (in garbage cans and 55 gallon drums, this was before the ubiquitous pallets of bottled water) to people with wells.
We had a Jeep Cherokee, but like all the other 4x4 owners in the area couldn’t pitch in until we were able to get out. Something made possible by the towns old military equip.